Tape
by harblcat
Summary: Kagami is teaching at her old school, and she enjoys her job! Really! But she can't stop feeling depressed… What happens when she receives a mysterious videotape? Let's find out! Konami, semi-crossover with "The Ring". I upped the rating, just to be safe!
1. Chapter 1

Kagami sighed, partly in joy and partly in melancholy. The school day was over, and her students were gathering their things to start the journey home. She was doing the same, clearing any papers from the desk and answering a few students' questions about things they didn't quite understand.

That finished, she slung her bag over her shoulder and made her way out of the classroom, turning down the corridor and walking a bit, before a familiar voice rang out from behind her.

"Hiiragi! Hey, Hiiragi!" Misao—rather, _Principal_ Misao—called out her name, and Kagami could only sigh, again—this time, purely out of melancholy.

It was Friday, and Friday meant one thing to Misao. Party. Honestly, how Misao of all people managed to become the Principal of her old high-school was a mystery to the purple-haired woman, but such is life. She turned, smiling a bit when she saw Ayano walking to her, and letting the smile slip slightly when she saw Misao _running_ up to her, her fitted suit jacket undone, tie fluttering in the air.

"Oi, Hiiragi! It's Friday, you know," panted the slightly winded Misao as she reached where Kagami was standing. Kagami merely nodded.

"Well, are ya gonna come ta drink with me and Ayano, or what?"

Kagami stilled her eyes for a moment, to prevent her from rolling them, and considered the proposal. On the one hand, she didn't particularly enjoy drinking, or some of the seedier bars Misao had dragged her to in the past. On the other hand, though… What else would she be doing if she didn't go out with Misao and Ayano?

Nothing, like always.

Kagami nodded, and smiled, "Sure, I'll come."

###

As she stumbled through the puddles of rain that lead her to the stairs of her apartment complex, she remembered hazily why she didn't enjoy drinking with Misao and Ayano. The ground was always so stubborn in its intent to wobble and sway with every footstep. For a moment, Kagami thought to herself that she was _glad_ she couldn't afford a car, and that she had a friend like Misao that'd pay her cab fare all the time when she needed a lift.

'_Naw, it's the least I can do for ya, Hiiragi! I know you can't hold your liquor like me,'_ Kagami remembered Misao saying as she tried to apologize for the fare, as she always did. Or did she?

With that thought, she sighed, _'I really need to just go to bed.'_

She stumbled a little further, until she reached the stairs and made the surprisingly difficult journey to the second floor. It was only difficult because the stairs were slick with rain, turning her already unstable footing into a downright dangerous adventure. She made it to the top, eventually, and walked a little more stably to her door, unlocking it and stepping in out of the rain.

She gave a deep sigh, laced with happiness in being home, and sadness that it was so dreary inside her small apartment.

A couple of dull thuds and her shoes were off. The small clank of her keys hitting the kitchen table, followed by the scuffle of her socked feet on the carpeting. She made her way into the bedroom, getting out of her wet clothes, not really noticing the way she shivered a tiny bit, and looked around for her warm pyjamas.

She found them, to her dismay, in the dirty clothes hamper. She just made-do with a t-shirt and sweat-pants.

Making her way back out to the living area of her apartment, drying her hair on the way, she heard her mail flap clang shut. She stopped for a moment, pondering why that seemed strange to her, until she realized that the mail didn't come at nearly one in the morning! Stumbling, a bit more soberly, she reached the door and found a thick envelope at the foot of the door.

She bent to pick it up, and opened the door to see who had left it. Looking left and right, she saw that the person who must have left it wasn't around. She was too late.

Sighing, she shut the door, relocking it and turning the envelope in her hands. It was unmarked, and it felt like there was something boxy inside. Perhaps it was a late-night courier? Who knew?

She ripped the seal of the envelope open, and tipped it into her hand, coming up with an unmarked VHS tape. This made Kagami raise her eyebrow up in surprise. Nobody used VHS anymore, not for at least five years. Who could have sent her a tape?

She pondered this, walking to her television. If she were sober, she probably would have thought it strange to watch an unmarked tape from a stranger. Perhaps it was some sort of advertisement? She'd heard of people receiving free CDs in the mail as a marketing scheme to raise a band's rating, but never anything about videotapes.

What if it was some pervert? Someone who recorded some… stuff… and put it into beautiful women's mailing slots? That would be terrible! But, Kagami just shook her head, glad again that she couldn't afford to have new things, since her old television had a VHS player built right in.

She popped the tape in and hit play, and walked the short distance to her small couch to watch.

Oh, what a mistake.

###

Kagami blinked. Then she blinked again. The tape apparently had made her sober, in its confusing, cut-up way. She thought back to what she had seen: giant robots walking on the horizon, the sunset on a beach full of pretty girls, an animated frog leading troops to battle… She blinked a third time.

She must have been right, thinking it was an advertisement. Although, it wasn't a very effective advertisement, as she couldn't tell what it was actually trying to sell. She sighed as the television filled with static, the tape rewinding itself.

Then the phone rang. Kagami got up, looking to where the phone hung on the wall. She sighed; it was too late for anyone to be calling her, so it was probably a wrong number. She would just let the machine answer. And she intended to, but then she thought of the chance it could be something important. Had there been an accident? Maybe Tsukasa was in trouble? Before she knew it she had picked up the phone.

"Tsukasa?" she asked. Then she promptly palmed her face. What a way to greet a potential stranger. The other end was silent for a moment, and she almost thought they had hung up out of confusion. But she heard a small laugh, cheerful, and the words

"Seven days."

"A-… What?" Kagami asked, genuinely confused.

"Seven days," the woman—she could tell—on the other end said again, this time with a slight chuckle.

"What about seven days?" Kagami was starting to become irritated. Was this person slow?

"Oh, you'll see!" the voice seemed to smile out, and then the other end hung up, leaving a confused Kagami listening to the beep-beep-beep of the phone in confusion.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey! This is the author, finally getting the hang of Fanfiction's weird sort of system… I'll have to go back and edit chapter one, since it's wrapping weirdly at the 1/2 size for me… But, anyways!

How do you all like the story so far? If I had to say, I'd say it's going 'good'… Better than I expected, anyway—this is the first time I'm writing the second chapter the day after writing the first, so it feels nice!

And to my first reviewer, ever, yojimbo89… Yay for you! You win the second chapter! Er, disregard the fact that everyone _else_ won the second chapter, too, please.

Anyway, enough of me rambling! On with the story!

Tape

Saturday was a sort of weird day for Kagami. She had gone to the supermarket, filling the cart up with all sorts of instant-this and microwave-that, since she still couldn't cook. That was normal, but every so often she'd see a flash of blue in the corner of her eye, and it was starting to creep her out.

She felt like she was being followed as she carried the bags back to her apartment, and couldn't resist looking behind her every once in a while to see if she was being followed. She wasn't, of course, but that didn't settle her nerves at all.

Making her way up the stairs to her apartment, she looked behind one last time, walking the short distance from the top of the stairs to her door. She had to set the bags down for a little while as she got her key out. She unlocked the door and made her way inside a little bit later, bags in hand. She set the bags down on the step up from the entranceway, taking off her shoes and stepped up, taking the bags the short distance into the kitchen.

Kagami had gone shopping, as she always did on a Saturday.

"Although," she muttered to herself, looking at the bags full of ramen and instant rice dishes, "I can't exactly call this food. But, it beats trying to cook." With that thought out of the way, she proceeded to put all the stuff into her pantry, glad that she had enough cupboard space for the food.

She smiled, having finished her one task for the day, and wondered for a little bit about what to do next. As she stood there, she wobbled just a tiny bit, bracing herself on the counter.

"I must be tired," she thought aloud, and decided to watch some television. She went and sat on her little couch, turning the television on to the first thing she could think of.

###

She woke up a little while later, television tuned to static. She blinked the sleep from her eyes, noticing the clock on the wall said it was very late. Turning the TV off, she got up, and stumbled slightly. That was odd.

'_I didn't have anything to drink, did I?'_ She sighed, shaking her head. She didn't even have any alcohol in the house, she couldn't have drunk anything. Shrugging it off, she made her way to the bed, using the wall to support herself slightly.

###

The next morning, Kagami felt extremely sore, all over. She moaned slightly, sitting up and sniffling, her nose also bothering her. Making her way to the bathroom, she flipped the light on, and squinted at her image in the mirror.

'_I look like crap…'_ she thought to herself, opening the medicine cabinet to fish out something that would hopefully make her feel better.

Taking the pills, she placed the cup back on the side of the sink and walked back into her bedroom, looking at the clock.

'_It's already 5:00 AM? Shoot… I might as well start my day,'_ she sighed at the thought, but started her morning routine anyway. First thing for the day: exercise.

Now, Kagami was never one to exercise, when she was younger, as she was able to keep a slim figure with the proper diet. But now she was older, and with age comes the necessity of exercise. Kagami just shook her head slowly, feeling the medicine already starting to work at clearing her head, and started exercising, earphones in her ears blasting a nice set of energetic songs for her to work out to.

###

Monday had come awful quickly for Kagami, and she woke up in the same manner as she had the day before. Sitting up, she groaned, sore as ever. She rubbed her forehead, wincing as her hand grazed over the bump she had gotten from her overzealous exercising the day before. She had gotten the bump when she started doing her stretches, bending down to touch her toes. The blood rushing to her head had made her feel faint, and she stumbled into the low table set in front of the couch.

Blushing at herself, she got out of bed and started getting ready for work. First things first, though… She popped two more of those pills, to at least make her feel better.

###

The walk to the train station was uneventful, as far as Kagami was concerned. When she got on the train, she had managed to nab a seat, and now spent her time looking out the window.

Buildings passed by, and Kagami started zoning out. Something pulled her back to reality, though. A flash of blue, she thought she had seen it by a bookstore the train passed by. She shook her head, but before she could look again they were already going through a tunnel.

###

As she trudged her way through the center courtyard of the school, she looked at all the students. Some of them appeared happy, some annoyed, some energetic and some tired. She let out a deep sigh, wondering why so many students were early to school that day.

At the thought of being early, Kagami wondered just how early she was, and so she looked at her watch.

She stopped walking, looking at her watch a little closer.

"Are the… Are the hands stopped?" she wondered aloud, shaking her hand a little bit, looking at the watch again.

Sighing, she looked around, thinking that maybe one of the students would tell her. She stopped a girl she recognized, smiling.

"Miss Takashi, do you know the time?" The girl smiled, nodding and pulling out her cell phone. Kagami mentally hit herself in the head, _'Of course, why didn't _ I_ think of that?'_

"Hiiragi-sensei, it's almost 7:45…"

The girl had to stifle a laugh as Kagami bolted in the direction of her classroom.

As Kagami ran, she wondered if she really _was_ sick with something serious.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey all! Well, all who care to read this. All you other people need to learn to pay attention to an author's needs!

…This author needs to pay attention to their reader's needs, too, though! And I have, I really have! At least another chapter after this one by next week, for sure. I hope everyone is as happy as I am.

Yojimbo89, yes, you were my first! Don't worry, I'd rate you _pretty_ well, I think… And Spikesagitta, turning 'The Ring' into an idea like this wasn't an easy task, let me tell ya! I managed, though, and the result is this! I hope you like it.

Anyway, y'all don't pay me to ramble like this (you pay me?), so on with the story!

Tape

"I'm so glad it's Friday," Kagami sighed, leaning back in the train seat, trying to not feel sore. She was still sick, amazingly. Even more amazing, she had run out of medicine yesterday morning, and spaced out about getting more when she was on the way back home. Things just couldn't get any worse, and she let out a groan.

"E… Excuse me miss, but are you alright?" An old man had bent down in front of her, looking with a little bit of worry. Kagami straightened up in her seat, surprised, but promptly regretted the sudden motion as her head pounded. She just nodded slowly at the man, shooing him away unconsciously.

'_I… I'm just a little sick, is all,'_ she tried convincing herself. It wasn't working.

###

Kagami panted ever so slightly, had the courtyard always been this large? It was taking freaking _forever_ for her to make her way across. At least she was on time. Monday had been quite embarrassing, with Misao having to watch the class for a couple of minutes before Kagami came rushing in, flushed in the face.

"I-I'm sorry!" she had stammered out, more embarrassed at the fact that Misao had to watch her class than the fact that she was late. Misao had just grinned, slapping a hand down on her shoulder (which had made her nearly stumble).

"You're just lucky that I like ya!" That grin had been a mile wide, and Kagami had suspected that Misao was trying to embarrass her even further in front of her class. Kagami had straightened out by then, and walked to her desk, managing to only stumble slightly in the process. Misao had looked worried when she turned to see if the energetic Principal had gone yet, and voiced as much.

"Ya okay there, Hiiragi? Ya look a little pale," Misao had asked, and Kagami just waved her off with an 'I'm fine, leave me alone.'

As she had turned to the class, opening the first textbook of the day, she had had the sinking thought, _'I might be worse off than I think…'_

Boy, had she ever been right. This courtyard was humongous, and it didn't really register to Kagami that she might make it across faster if she actually started walking again. She had stopped in the middle of the darn thing, after all, and simply wobbled as she stood there.

"Ahm," she muttered, eyelids falling half-closed, legs giving out. She fell to the ground, and simply lay there, knowing that she was on the ground and not really caring. Sleep seemed like such a good idea, and the last thing she saw before she closed her eyes was that flash of blue.

'_That's getting kinda annoying…'_

###

The first sound that Kagami noticed when she woke up was a soft humming and the scratching of a pencil on paper. Kagami sat up, feeling slightly better than she had earlier. She looked around, noting that she was in the nurse's office, and then surmised that the humming must have been coming from Ayano, her being the school nurse and all.

Nursing had always fit Ayano, in Kagami's opinion, and she was glad to see that the girl had managed to get a job that she appeared to enjoy.

As she was thinking this, the door to the nurse's office flew open, and footsteps could be heard. Due to the curtain being in the way, Kagami couldn't see who it was, but judging from the way the footsteps sounded, it was more than likely Misao.

"Hey, Ayano-puu, how's Hiiragi doing?"

Kagami blinked, _'Ayano-puu?'_ She somehow managed to stop herself from laughing, and managed to hear Ayano respond with a giggle and what sounded a lot like a smooch.

Kagami already knew that her two friends had gotten together, it had been clear they were an item even back when they were attending this school as students rather than teachers. But still, it came as a rather amusing surprise.

'_Ayano-puu,'_ she thought once more, and this time couldn't help but giggle. But, the giggle promptly turned into a groan as her head started pounding. She lay back down, trying to get her head to stop hurting, ignoring the talk of the other women. But, it wasn't working.

Especially not after Misao whipped the curtain aside, greeting Kagami with the same enthusiasm she always did: loud and slightly annoying.

"Hiiragi! It's lunch-time! How're ya feelin'?"

Kagami just threw the now very annoying woman a look that sent shivers down her spine.

"A-Ayano-puu, are you sure that she's okay? Looks to me like she's gonna tear me a new one," said a slightly-worried Misao, turning to look at Ayano.

"I told you she was _going_ to be okay. She's just got the flu, and it's pretty far along. She must have had it all week, judging from how she's appeared," Ayano just smiled and shook her head, loving how predictable her Misao was.

"Are you _sure _sure?" Misao sounded really worried, and Kagami only wondered if it was for her own sake, or Misao's.

"I…" she tried to get out, but it seemed rather hoarse. She cleared her throat, wincing only slightly at the sharp pain in the front of her head, and tried again, "I'll be fine. It… It's lunchtime already?"

Misao nodded, looking the sick woman over once, before straightening up and putting her hands on her hips.

"Kagami, I'm sending you home for the day!"

Kagami shook her head, trying to stand up and failing miserably. Misao just stood there, looking down at the woman that was now half-on-half-off the cot, shaking her head.

"I'll call a cab. You ain't gonna make it like you are right now. And no 'but's!" With that statement, Misao exited the room, apparently to call the cab company. Kagami managed to get herself back on the cot, and looked pleadingly to Ayano.

"Ayano, can't you just give me some medicine? I'm sure I'll be fine, really!" Ayano just shook her head, looking to the box of flu medication that was open on her desk.

"I understand that you want to work, Kagami, but," she motioned to the box, "You've already taken medicine, about an hour ago. Don't you remember?"

Kagami got a confused look on her face, thinking back for a moment, before she just shook her head and sighed.

"I guess I really _am_ sick."

Ayano smiled and nodded. Kagami just groaned, lying back down.

###

Kagami groaned, trudging up the stairs to her apartment, thankful that the driver had appreciated the fact that she was sick and driven slowly. Misao had paid her fare, again, saying something about how Kagami wasn't even going to lose pay for being sick. Kagami didn't really remember, and the only thought in her head was one of her nice, warm, comfortable bed. It was just so far away, still.

Step. Step. Step. Kagami stumbled slightly, but had an iron grip on the railing, making it to the top with a minimal of fuss. She fumbled with the lock on her door, cursing as her vision grew hazy. Ayano had said something about her overexerting herself, but she hadn't paid her any mind as Misao hustled her into the taxi.

She probably should have listened more closely.

Finally, she managed to get into her apartment, closing and locking the door behind her, kicking off her shoes with a stumble, and shuffling her way towards her room. She made it to her couch, and decided that the couch had a larger comfort-to-distance ratio (she really was a teacher, after all), and fell onto it. She was asleep before she even realized.


	4. Chapter 4

Hi all! Again! For the third time!

Nyaa, I remember thinking to myself that chapter four was going to be hard. I guess I was half-right and half-wrong… It was only hard to _start_, and it just sorta flowed from there.

Spikesaggita, there's really no need to worry! I'm not mean enough to cause **any** of our beloved characters from Lucky Star to die. That'd make me feel really bad! So, you can rest assured.

DreamShadower, it _is_ an interesting crossover, isn't it! Considering that Kagami doesn't really even wake up this chapter, you can safely bet that the next chapter _will_ blow her mind! And I didn't think about that song 'I'm Blue', although it does kinda fit.

Anyway, enough of my rabble-rabble-rabble, on with the story!

Tape

Kagami was dreaming. She had to be. Why else would she be floating above a lake? It was nighttime, and she could see for a long distance in any direction that she looked. She couldn't tell where she was, but knowing it was a dream, she doubted it was anywhere at all. Floating high above the lake, she shivered as a breeze blew past her, and flew down a bit to escape the cold drafts up above.

The surface of the lake was almost like glass, so much so that Kagami had to touch the water to make sure that it actually _was_ a lake, and not some sort of weird _pseudo_-lake. Kagami was no stranger to messed-up dreams. Circular ripples and the cold wet sensation on her finger let her know that, yes, it was in fact a lake. At least, as real as a lake could be, in a dream.

Floating gently above the surface of the water, she wandered a bit, exploring her surroundings. In dreams like this, she liked to see what she would be able to do, unrestricted by the waking world. She saw that underneath the surface there were fish swimming in circles, around and around, circling around her reflection. Kagami smiled, rolling around to float on her back, looking at the sky. So many stars were there, and Kagami wondered at how many she could name.

She laughed at that thought, remembering that she was dreaming and that more than likely the sky she was seeing wasn't the same as the sky in the real world. She nodded, smiling. She was looking at her own personal sky. For some reason that thought made her happy.

Of course, dreams sometimes turn sour, and Kagami was already mentally exhausted from being sick. One second she was floating about above the water, and the next she was surrounded by the cold fluid. The water felt like liquid ice against her skin, and Kagami tried to gasp out, losing what little air was in her lungs. She struggled to swim, forgetting she was dreaming, but only drifted further and further down into the dark, frigid water.

###

It was 1:30 in the morning. Kagami had been knocked out on the couch for the better part of a day, and she was still there, shivering slightly, tossing and turning occasionally. It was a shame she had to miss what was currently happening.

Kagami's television had turned itself on, to one of the many late-night anime channels. It seemed as if it was any other series, except that one of the characters was a lot shorter than the others.

"Hey, I can't help it that my growth was stunted!" she complained, but none of the characters listened, talking amongst themselves as if she weren't there. The young girl—she really did look to be about 14—smiled at that, looking towards the 'camera'. Rather, she looked to where the camera would have been, if there _was_ one. Stepping closer and closer, she had an almost catlike grin on her face, and she crouched, readying to pounce, it seemed.

"Fumoffu!" she shouted, and with a lunge, launched herself at the camera with a flash of blue hair.

A dull thud echoed out into the room, followed by a small groan of pain. If Kagami had been awake to see it happen, she'd have probably been on the floor, body wracked with laughter. Fortunately, the blue-haired girl in the TV was spared that fate, and stood from where she had fallen, looking at the screen of the television from the inside, it seemed.

Poking and prodding, feeling around the edges of the piece of glass, she finally made a sound of triumph.

"A-ha!"

A press of a small button she had found, and the short whirring of a motor later, and she had managed to get the screen of the television to open from the inside.

Had Kagami been awake, this would be around the point where she stopped laughing and gave the television a worried glance, checking her temperature. But she was still out cold, mumbling something about ice and fish.

The short blue-haired girl poked her head out of the television, looking remarkably similar to her anime-inspired character in the television. Same cat-like grin, same fluff of blue hair, and same height problem. Seeing Kagami sleeping on the couch, the girl gave a light sigh of relief, smiling.

"She didn't see me make a fool of myself, that's good," she smiled out, crawling out of the television carefully, the opening only about 14 inches across.

'_Kinda tight, even for me,'_ she thought, wriggling her hips to get them past the opening. Finally, she was out, and lay on the carpeting of the room for a moment, taking in the fact that she was actually _out._ She couldn't remember the last time she had been out of the tape.

In fact, she couldn't remember why she had been in there in the first place. It had been all she had known, for so long, she had forgotten anything else.

How this woman on the couch had freed her, how she had gotten the tape was another mystery. She had been so excited when she realized someone was watching the tape that she almost called before the person was done watching! It's a good thing she didn't, otherwise something bad would have happened—she knew because there had to be a certain order to these things. She hadn't forgotten _that_ much.

Standing and brushing herself off a bit, she stretched, rubbing her hands together. One thing she hadn't realized before she got out of the tape was that inside the tape was _cold!_ Really, freezing!

She basked in the warmth for a moment longer, but was pulled from her reverie by a tiny whimper coming from the couch. Looking at Kagami, the girl crouched down next to her to get a closer look. It was dark, but the girl could plainly see that Kagami's forehead was covered in a light sheen of sweat, and that the girl was shivering.

Shaking her head, the short girl looked around for a moment until she saw the door that lead to the bedroom, then nodded in determination.

###

The dream had changed, now making a little more sense to Kagami's tired mind. She thought about that for a moment, _'Aren't dreams supposed to revitalize your brain?'_ She filed that away, thinking back to the matter at hand. It was dark, and Kagami was warm and incredibly peaceful.

"Ha, it feels like I want to go to sleep while I'm dreaming," she murmered, floating lazily through the void. She smiled, _'If only _all_ dreams were this nice…'_

She felt the brush of something light across her cheek, but since it was dark, she couldn't see what it was. She felt it again, and was overcome with the scent of lilacs. She nearly melted at that, and reached a hand out to attempt grabbing whatever was brushing her cheek. She nabbed something, and it only took a moment to realize it was hair. Soft hair.

Kagami relaxed, curling into this warmth she felt, holding firm on the tuft of hair she held… For this brief, peaceful moment she was warm; comfortable; and most importantly, _loved._

###

The blue-haired girl smiled, glad that the woman she held in her arms didn't weigh as much as she would have guessed.

'_She must really watch her figure, I guess,'_ the girl thought, smiling, _'She's done a pretty good job, I'd say.'_

Murmuring a little bit, Kagami curled closer to the girl's shoulder. Smiling at the moment she was sharing with the purple-haired woman, blue carried her the short distance to the bedroom, setting her on the bed as gently as she could. When she went to stand, though, she discovered with a yank that Kagami had grasped on to her hair, and it didn't seem like she would be letting go any time soon. The girl smiled and shook her head, pulling the blanket back some and sliding in beside Kagami, sighing contentedly at the warmth she felt underneath the covers. Curled up against the taller woman, the girl giggled underneath the covers. It was really warm there, and she just grinned, poking her head up to look at Kagami for a moment.

"I know you can't hear me, but… I'm Konata," she whispered, reaching a hand up to stroke away a strand of purple hair from Kagami's face. Smiling brightly, Konata slid back underneath the warm covers, revelling in how comfortable it was. Soon enough, she felt Kagami's hands loosen from her hair, instead wrapping around the smaller girl's form, pulling her close. Konata sighed in contentment. She couldn't remember _ever_ being this warm, and it was causing her to fall asleep. Before she slid off into slumber, she murmered into Kagami's shoulder, happily,

"Thanks for freeing me."


	5. Chapter 5

I'm back! Miss me? I _hope_ ya did…

I was really at a loss with how to start this chapter, but I think I did alright. I hope you all agree!

Xianda, pretty name! Is it your real one? It sounds Chinese… I'm happy that you think I'm representing the characters well, although… I didn't really _try_. Perhaps I've just read and watched too much Lucky Star for my own good? Hehe, that is such a nice thought. I hope you enjoy this new chapter as much as you did the last couple!

Mr. Samuel, cute is good! I have my _own_ opinions on my writing (and they aren't gentle, by far), but I'm glad it's "really good." That made me smile!

A genie, Spikesaggita? Yes, a very _cute_ genie, with blue hair and a big cat grin! Wouldn't it be so awesome? I'm glad you liked Konata's entrance. I really wasn't going for the whole _scary_ feel, anyway. It wouldn't fit the Lucky Star characters at all.

For Spite, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting! I really didn't want to rush, but now I'm afraid I might be going too slow! I really hope not. Thanks for the compliment, as well! Gosh, I'm lucky to have such _nice_ reviewers!

Lillith! I don't know you, but allow me to be excited over hearing from you, anyway! Hehe, I allowed anonymous reviewers because I feel that people give their _true_ opinions when there's no pressure of identity involved. Plus, I don't mind the occasional flame or troll, I've got a good constitution! Anyway, I'm glad you're anxious, it means I'm doing a good job! Keep on reading!

Syx, it does seem kinda like Video Girl Ai, now that you mention it… That could probably be a source of good inspiration! Thanks!

Hasukii of the North, what a long name! Very eloquent! I'm glad you like my particular take on this sort of thing, and I hope that I can continue it in the best way possible! I won't keep you waiting long!

Yojimbo89, my first reviewer, it's nice to see you're back for more! I didn't keep you waiting too long, did I? 'Wicked sweet' is definitely what I was aiming for in writing this, and I definitely think it'll get better and better as the story progresses. I hope I can satisfy you!

And now, on with the show!

Tape

Tsukasa hummed lightly, stepping up the stairwell that led to her sister's apartment. Misao had called her the previous day and told her that Kagami was sick, and Misao meant _really_ sick. She had made sure her point got across. Tsukasa knew that sometimes she could be a slight ditz, and took it in stride. Her mind tended to wander, and complicated things made her shy away from them a bit, and she tended to ramble, and…

Tsukasa paused, shaking her head, giggling.

"I was doing it again, darn it. Balsamic vinegar… Balsamic Vinegar…" Tsukasa smiled, repeating her favorite phrase over to herself as she approached Kagami's door. She wanted to be fully alert and attentive. It wasn't very often Tsukasa got the chance to take care of her twin sister. Usually it was the other way around; Kagami could be so caring towards her, and Tsukasa had always wanted to repay her bigger-sister's efforts. This was just one way to do so.

She raised her hand to knock, and almost did, until she remembered that Kagami had a doorbell. She decided to push that instead, hugging her jacket loosely around herself in the warm sunlight as she waited.

She could hear footsteps coming toward the door from the inside, and several clicks later, the door was opened.

"Hello, big sister!" Tsukasa smiled brightly.

"Eh…" she faltered, blushing brightly. Before her stood a girl, she was sure; _but,_ this girl wasn't her sister. Her sister wasn't so short, and last she knew, didn't have this dark blue color of hair. She gave out a nervous giggle, looking very embarrassed.

"I-I must have the wrong house, I… I thought this was Kagami's apartment, but…" she started to ramble. The blue-haired girl smiled at that, stepping to the side.

"This _is_ Kagamin's apartment. Please, come inside!"

###

Konata shuffled into the small kitchen of the apartment, Tsukasa in tow. She smiled happily at the circumstances, sitting down at the quaint little table and motioning for the confused purple-haired girl to do the same. When she was seated, Konata grinned, holding out a hand to Tsukasa.

"Like I said at the door, I'm Konata. Are you… Kagamin's sister, perhaps?" Konata asked, patiently.

Tsukasa looked at the extended hand for a moment before grasping it, smiling brightly. Kagami apparently knew this person pretty well. She'd have to get to know her, too, then.

"I'm Tsukasa, Kagami's _twin_ sister, actually… We don't look much alike, I know," she trailed off, still smiling. Konata's eyes lit up, and she enthusiastically studied the other girl from across the table.

"Twins, really? Wow, that's so cool! Were you born first, or was she? You don't seem identical, are you fraternal twins?" Konata went on and on, and poor Tsukasa tried to answer her questions as best she could.

"She was born first, so she's technically older. We were fraternal twins. Yes, our purple hair is natural, even if it _is_ a little bit odd. We went to the same school up until high-school, although they always kept us separated for some reason. Yes," she had to giggle a little bit at the question Konata had asked, "It really _does_ stink!"

Recovering from the slew of questions, Tsukasa decided that it was _her_ turn to ask a few. She started with a simple question.

"So, are you living here with big sister?" Konata smiled—a bit of a grin, really—and leaned closer to Tsukasa. She didn't want to lie, but she also wanted to have fun with the situation.

"After last night, I'm pretty sure I do." It was a nice answer—not a lie, but still left a lot to the imagination. Tsukasa had picked up on the innuendo, and a light blush tinged her cheeks. She asked another question,

"What… What do you mean, 'After last night'?" Konata made a small pleased sound, her grin getting wider.

"Let's just say that she kept me busy past midnight, hmm?" That answer had definitely hit the sweet spot, and poor Tsukasa had gone red as a beet. Konata giggled, waving her hand, deciding that she really shouldn't push too hard.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I got here, and the poor thing was zonked out on the couch. I put her in bed and decided to stay here, for the night. You know, to look after her."

Tsukasa appeared to calm down some at that, waving a hand at her face to cool off slightly. Unfortunately it did nothing to stave off the blush that had stained her cheeks.

"You really carried her to bed?" Tsukasa looked at Konata, slightly amazed. Thinking that a girl as small as Konata could _possibly_ carry her sister was a _little_ amazing, at least. "You must be really strong!" Konata grinned at the compliment.

"I may look tiny, but I am actually really athletic!" To drive the point home, Konata flexed an arm, grinning at the look on Tsukasa's face. Tsukasa had to admit that the girl looked quite toned and firm, although not _overly_ so.

"How impressive! Uhm…" Tsukasa trailed off, looking at the ceiling for a moment. _'What was I thinking of, just now…?'_ she thought for a moment. Konata continued smiling, waiting patiently for the girl to continue.

"Oh! Since big sister's still sleeping, wouldn't it be nice to make her something nice to eat when she wakes up?" Tsukasa asked with a big, caring smile. The smile was contagious, it seemed, because Konata returned it in kind and nodded,

"Nn! Let's get crackin'!"

###

Kagami was slowly roused from her slumber by the combined senses of hearing and scent. She was annoyed for only a second, though, before her brain functioned well enough to recognize the sounds she was hearing and the delicious smell that wafted from the kitchen. The voices that she heard both sounded familiar, and she could recognize one as her sister Tsukasa. She figured that her sister had invited a friend over to visit with her. She didn't mind, she enjoyed entertaining whoever would come along. It was a rare event, ever since she had graduated from University and started teaching. She just didn't seem to have _time_ to entertain guests.

The haze of sleep lifted even more, and she recognized the delicious smell as chicken-noodle soup. Her mouth watered at the thought. She moved to roll out of bed, but stopped mid-way with a groan. Her head hurt slightly, and her stomach felt a bit uneasy, but those feelings weren't bad enough to cause her to stop. No, she groaned in pain because of the rather large kink that had made itself apparent at the small of her back. She wondered at that, then realized she had slept in her clothes.

Thinking about it even further, she remembered that she had decided to sleep on the couch, instead of her bed. That explained the kink, but now she wondered about how she had made it to the bed. Shaking her head, she just stood, sleepily shuffling her way into the kitchen.

When she walked through the doorway, she was greeted by her sister's big smile, and a hug. She grinned, hugging her sister back.

"Hey, Tsukasa. Why are you here?" Kagami felt happy that her sister was over, and looked her over for a moment. Nothing significant had changed with Tsukasa, it seemed. She was still the same caring sister that Kagami had known all her life.

"Ah, Misao called me yesterday and told me you were sick! I followed her advice and decided to stop by and help you out a tiny bit!" Tsukasa smiled, happy that Kagami didn't seem very sick. She must have slept away the worst of it last night.

While the two sisters were conversing, Konata was busy with a large pot on the stove, stirring it and making sure it didn't boil over. She could hear the conversation, and was just a tiny bit nervous with how things would turn out.

Kagami looked over her sister's shoulder, noticing the color blue before anything else.

'_That seems so familiar…'_ she thought, and stood there for a moment, staring at Konata's back with a strange expression on her face. Tsukasa noticed and giggled a little bit, misinterpreting the look on Kagami's face as something else, and smiled.

"Big sister, why didn't you _tell_ me you had gotten yourself a girlfriend?"

###

"Big sister, why didn't you _tell_ me you had gotten yourself a girlfriend?"

'_Wait, what. _Girlfriend_? Does she mean…'_ Kagami's mind was having a bit of difficulty processing that last bit of information. Konata visibly tensed, and turned nervously around to face the very confused-looking older sister. A small smile and a wave were all that Konata could give at the moment.

'_Who? What? Tsukasa thinks this girl is my _girlfriend_?!'_ Kagami sputtered, turning slightly red in the face. Tsukasa looked confused at that, and vocalized as much,

"Big sis?"

"She is _NOT_ my girlfriend!" Kagami shouted, finger stiffly pointed in Konata's direction. Konata looked hurt and turned away, a movement Tsukasa couldn't help but notice. Kagami continued on, looking quite embarrassed and increasingly irritated.

"S-she's not my girlfriend, and I _don't even KNOW who she is!_" Kagami insisted, loudly. Tsukasa looked from her big sister, to the seemingly destroyed figure of Konata, and thought to herself for a moment.

'_Could this be "couple troubles"? Does Kagami think that I would think less of her if she were a lesbian? That's not good at all! And from what I've been discussing with Konata, she seems like the perfect person for big sis!'_ Tsukasa made up her mind. She put on her sternest face and turned, hands on hips, to face her older sister.

"That's enough, big sister!" Tsukasa had said it as sternly as possible, and Kagami had taken notice, quieting herself and lowering her arm to her side, her full attention on Tsukasa. Her little sister felt pleased on the inside, and continued.

"I don't know if you and Konata have been fighting or not, but she does _not_ deserve to have you deny that you two are together!"

Kagami was making a face that said she was quite confused, and Konata looked at the two with a mix of fear and hope in her eyes. Kagami recovered enough to say something, but before she could even squeeze out a word, Tsukasa interrupted her.

"If you think that you being a lesbian would make me care any less about you, big sister, you're wrong! I was surprised at first to learn about it, but I'm proud of you. I'm proud that you would be that true to yourself, and the only part of me that feels hurt right now is the part of me that wishes you had told me sooner." Tsukasa then hugged her sister tightly, backing away after a moment and holding her by the shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes.

"Now I'm going to go and get some things for the chicken-noodle soup Konata and I have been making, and I expect you two to work things out while I'm gone, okay?"

Tsukasa didn't wait for an answer, donning her jacket and making her way to the door, putting her shoes on. One final 'Work it out!' and the sound of the door clicking shut, and Kagami was left standing slack-jawed in the middle of her kitchen, looking quite confused and a little bit stressed. She recovered some, and turned to look accusingly towards Konata. The short girl held her hands up defensively, still holding on to the big ladle she had been stirring the cooking soup with, and gave Kagami a lopsided grin.

"H-heh… Kagamin, I c-can explain…?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Tape**

Kagami was slightly irritated, and it showed with the blood-vessel popping out of her forehead. The color blue was so familiar to her, and she couldn't figure out why. Adding to her aggravation, the seemingly teenaged girl in her kitchen was trying to explain to her why Tsukasa had the idea that they were an item. Yes, Kagami was irritated, and was only growing more so with time.

"You mean to tell me that we are supposed to be 'together'?" Kagami asked, hands on her hips, staring the shorter girl down. Konata just looked at the floor, a slight blush on her face.

'_If I can convince her of this, I'll be able to stay,'_ was the only real thought in Konata's head at the moment, and she _had_ to make it work.

"Y-yeah. I mean," poor Konata stuttered; she wasn't very good at talking to angry people after all that time in the tape. She was actually starting to feel tears at the corner of her eyes, and steeled herself against them.

"I mean," she continued, "If I can stay in this apartment, then I can stay _here_." Kagami looked a little confused at the stress on the word _here_, and her head cocked to the side a little bit, her confusion showing.

"'_Here_'?" she asked the shorter girl, and Konata simply nodded, motioning with her head for Kagami to follow her into the living room.

###

Kagami stood patiently in the middle of her living room, waiting for the shorter girl to continue speaking. She had been led here by Konata and apparently she was going to get a little bit more of an explanation. She hoped that this explanation would include information as to how Konata had gotten into the apartment in the first place, but that might have been hoping for too much.

Konata looked up, her eyes now free from the urge to let her tears fall, and smiled to Kagami.

"You were sleeping on the couch when I got here," she started, "Looking so cute, even with that little bit of drool down the side of your face." Kagami blushed at what she supposed was a compliment, turning away slightly.

"Don't say such embarrassing things." Kagami blinked in surprise at uttering the sentence. What surprised Kagami about her remark wasn't the fact that it came out at a reasonable volume, but the fact that it came so naturally to her. The sentence had slipped out of her mouth as easily as water, and Kagami was never so loose with her tongue. Dealing with smart-aleck students had taught her to think every remark through, lest she say something regrettable.

Konata had noticed something then, the ease at which Kagami had 'scolded' her, and her smile grew a little wider. _'Maybe Kagami is remembering?'_ Konata shook her head at the thought, there was no need to get such hopes up just yet.

"Like I said, you were sleeping on the couch when I got here…." Konata started again, looking around for a moment before standing in front of the television. "I stood right here, in fact."

"Wait wait wait… How did you get there? Was the door unlocked?" Kagami questioned. She knew she had locked it, so maybe the shorter girl was some sort of locksmith.

"No, I didn't come in through the door, Kagamin," Konata smiled, although the smile didn't reach up into her eyes. It took a lot of guts to just come clean with this, but Konata felt like it would work out. Those gut feelings had never steered her wrong before.

"I came through the television."

Kagami nodded a little bit, taking in the information.

"And was the television unlock—Wait, _HOW_ did you come in through the _television_?!"

###

Motioning to the television, Konata turned to Kagami,

"What do you see, here?"

"W-…." Kagami began, "What do you mean? That's my television! What are you, blind?! Anyway, what does that have to do with answering my question!?"

Konata merely shook her head, crouching herself down in front of the set and muttering a few words. Kagami looked on in confusion, waiting as patiently as her swiftly declining mood would allow.

After a few moments, Konata stopped muttering words, and opened her eyes.

"…" Nothing had happened. Kagami grew more annoyed as Konata started the mutterings again, and decided to ask the shorter girl what she was up to.

"What on earth are you doing, shorty?" Kagami wondered for a moment at the 'shorty' comment, as it had, like so many things she had said in the past hour or so, simply slipped off her tongue. Konata had seemed to react to the word as well, and looked over her shoulder with a gaze of mock-annoyance.

"Shush. I'm trying to cast a spell."

"…"

Once Kagami picked herself up from the carpeted floor, she stood menacingly over the shorter girl, who seemed to notice and stopped whatever incantations she had been muttering. Looking back over her shoulder at Kagami with a questioning glance, she noticed the flames in the looming girl's eyes and backed against the television in fear.

"Ka-Kagami, what's… what's wrong?"

"Oh, just a tiny," Kagami emphasized, "Little," again, "Insignificant," and again, "Nuisance, one that's trying to tell me she's casting a spell on my television! Where do you come up with this stuff, shorty?"

In the middle of her tirade, Kagami had closed her eyes in frustration. She opened them now, and almost immediately forgot what she had been so angry about. Konata looked to be close to tears, and seemed to shrink even smaller when she curled up on the carpeted floor of the living room.

"H-hey, now… I just overreacted," Kagami crouched down next to Konata, reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder. Konata shrank back with a whimper that seemed to pierce Kagami's heart. Before she could even think to stop herself, she was holding Konata's small, shaky form in her arms, whispering that she was sorry into the girl's long blue hair.

###

In Kagami's arms, Konata felt as if everything were right in the world. The same feeling had come over Kagami as well. She sat on that carpeted floor for a long time with Konata in her arms, letting thoughts mull freely in her mind. She realized then that she had been in denial over her lack of passion, her lack of love, for some time.

Holding the smaller girl in her arms seemed to bring peace to the inside of Kagami's heart. She wondered how long that peace would last.

"That didn't take long at all, now did it?" Kagami heard. She stiffened a bit while Konata moved to look over her shoulder.

"Tsukasa! Did you get the vegetables?"

'_At least _she _can act normally at a time like this… Geez, my face feels like it's on fire…' _To compound Kagami's thoughts, Konata had just begun snuggling into Kagami's shoulder, squeezing her a little bit more tightly.

Kagami was just about ready to stand, ready to yell… _something!_ Then she'd run off to hide in her room; she was so embarrassed. She would have, too, if it weren't for one thing.

Konata whispering against her neck,

"I'm so glad."

Those words struck Kagami's heart like arrows, and on what seemed to be simply impulse, she ran one of her hands up the shorter girl's back to tangle in her long, blue locks. She nuzzled into that wonderful hair for a moment before whispering back,

"Me too… Me too…"

###

Sitting at the table in her kitchen, Kagami stared in wonderment as the two other people in her kitchen got to work, making what was turning out to be a delicious-smelling chicken noodle soup. From scratch. When Konata had said that, peering back over her shoulder at the purple-haired teacher, she had also said that it was being made with _love_, emphasis on love — with a wink added for good measure.

Kagami hadn't replied to that with any sort of words. She had been too busy trying to get her face to quit burning with a blush.

'_Honestly,'_ she thought to herself, exasperated, _'Just because I discovered that I… _Might_ like Konata, doesn't mean that I should be susceptible to those sorts of actions!'_ Kagami was derailed from her train of thought when a steaming bowl was placed on the table before her. A cascade of blue from over her shoulder let her know that Konata was the one serving her the steaming soup, but it wouldn't have mattered, after a second.

"Here you are, Master!" Konata had practically breathed that into her ear, but Kagami knew, as her blush rose again, that it had been loud enough for Tsukasa to hear.

Tsukasa, bless her soul, didn't say a word, and soon enough she and Konata both had gotten themselves a bowl of the homemade soup and taken seats at the modest table with Kagami.

"Say, big sister… Did you know that there is a festival coming up at the school you work for?" Kagami looked up, a confused look plastered on her face, and Tsukasa continued on, "Misao told me about it on the phone yesterday."

Kagami shook her head, letting out a slightly exasperated sigh.

"No, I didn't know anything about it. Knowing Misao, she probably thought it up just yesterday… Chances are, you were one of the first to know, besides Misao herself."

Tsukasa nodded, eating a bit more of her soup.

"You should take Konata with you, big sis."

Kagami looked up again, head tilted to the side in surprise. Tsukasa certainly was persistent in getting her and Konata to 'work things out.' But, when she looked into Konata's hopeful eyes, the surprise on her face turned into a gentle smile.

"Yeah, I should. That sounds like a good idea."

A gentle nod of blue let her know that yes, it certainly was.

###

Author's Note:

PLEASE DON'T KILL ME I CAN EXPLAIN!

Also, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Valentine's… Oh, you get the point…

Anyway, I got totally, completely, and utterly stuck on this chapter out of sheer… I don't exactly know what it was, but it had me for a good long while!

Thank you to all the reviewers, and all you people who had _thoughts_ of reviewing! I love each and every character you all type.

I guess that the only question I have right now, for myself, would be "Can you keep the flow going, now that you got it back?"

I can only hope.


	7. Chapter 7

**Tape**

Surprisingly, domestic life (as Konata liked to refer to it as) came easily to Kagami. She would wake up in the morning, smiling as Konata snoozed away beside her, and get ready for work. For a little while, she had let Konata sleep in, as the girl didn't really have to go to school, but Konata had confronted her about that a few days into "their new life" (again, as Konata liked to refer to it as).

###

Kagami had been in the bathroom, brushing her teeth and looking down at the lesson plans she had laid out for her students. The students might have been excited about the upcoming festival, and the break they would get from schoolwork, but Kagami was dead-set on teaching them at least something in the short time they had till the event.

Therefore, she couldn't have seen or heard the blue-haired girl sneak up behind her, and couldn't have predicted the impish girl's actions.

"Kagamin~…" came a whisper, almost like a purr, into her ear. She tensed up a little bit, but as the smaller girl's arms snaked around her waist, gliding gently over the silk pajamas that she had worn to bed, she instead switched her focus to not melting to the floor. Honestly, it surprised her how much of an effect Konata had on her with such simple actions.

Kagami didn't respond audibly (except with a small moan-like sound that she would later deny), so Konata continued,

"You shouldn't let me sleep in." Kagami wanted to ask why, but could only murmur some sort of sound past her toothbrush, so Konata continued.

"I'd much rather wake up with you. That would mean that I get to spend more time with you each day. Because, well…" Kagami could almost hear the girl thinking behind her, and waited, curious for the reason behind the girl's request.

"Dreaming of you is fun, but teasing you during the day is much more fun!" With that remark, Konata gave her a squeeze around her waist and a smooch on the side of her neck before sliding away.

"I'm gonna make breakfast. Waffles sound good?" Kagami could only nod, and Konata saw that her face in the mirror was red, again. Satisfied with herself, she made her way to the kitchen, leaving Kagami to recover.

###

Konata was satisfied with herself, to say the least. She had managed to convince Kagami that she should be allowed to stay with the teacher, and also had slowly worked to the point she was at right now, where she could touch and show her affections for the older woman. 'Although,' Konata thought momentarily, 'Kagamin isn't actually older than I am.' Konata had to have a little chuckle, if only for the fact that Kagami would now look like a strange pervert in most people's eyes, staying with such a young-looking girl, even going so far as to be affectionate with that 'young girl.'

Konata felt color flush her cheeks and smiled warmly. Starting with that first night she had arrived in this world, she hadn't had to sleep in an empty bed. Kagami hadn't even put up a fight, saying something about it being too chilly, anyway.

"Kagami…" Konata sighed, poking gently at the egg she was making.

"Yes? You know, you're making a really funny face at the egg," Kagami grinned from beside her. Konata jumped only a little bit, looking over at the smirking teacher. She had dressed in one of her suits today, looking very teacherly with her hair pulled back in a single ponytail.

Konata smiled, looking back to the egg and flipping it. Kagami looked very beautiful today. She looked beautiful every day.

"That 'funny face' was me thinking about you, you know. I'm making this food with love. Love!" Konata asserted, waving her spatula around a bit, although she was careful not to let anything drip onto the floor. Kagami just grinned and shook her head at the girl's actions.

Konata quieted down, using the spatula to move the egg around a bit so it didn't stick to the pan. Kagami watched her for a moment, then turned to sit at the table.

"Kagamin," Konata started, just as the teacher was moving to sit in her seat. She stopped, looking at the back of Konata's head with a bit of worry. She sounded sad, for some reason.

"What is it, Konata?" She walked forward, placing her hand at the small of the girl's back, looking at her profile now. She had been right, seeing that Konata wore a small frown.

"Konata?"

The blue-haired girl seemed to mull over her thoughts a little while, moving the egg onto a plate that had a stack of waffles already waiting on it, and then taking that plate and another plate that had already been finished to the table. Kagami followed, sitting down across the table from the girl, where she usually sat. She didn't start to eat, though, preferring to look over at the girl who had been lost in thought for a little while now. She asked again,

"Konata?"

"Do you miss me, while you're at school?" Konata was looking down at her plate, her hands in her lap.

Kagami stood up from the table just then, and Konata looked up in surprise, only to be even more surprised when Kagami sat down on the seat beside her, immediately planting a small kiss on her cheek.

"Of course I do, Konata. I… I don't know why, exactly, but when we are together, I don't hurt inside. When I'm at school, I can't help but think about you, about what you might be doing," Kagami grinned, "Don't you remember when I called you, two days ago?"

"I thought that was to make sure I hadn't broken anything…" Konata smiled up at Kagami, who turned to look away. It was no use, Konata could still see the blush on her face, and wrapped her arms around the taller woman's waist.

"It made me happy, anyway," Konata smiled up at Kagami, who smiled back down at her. "To know that you were thinking of me just then, and not the furniture, makes me even happier."

Kagami gave a small kiss to the smile on Konata's face, and then motioned with her head to the table,

"We'd better start eating, otherwise you're gonna make me late."

Konata just grinned, grabbing one of the forks, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"K-Konata…?"

###

Kagami muttered to herself as she entered her classroom, barely fifteen minutes to spare. This, she hoped, was enough time to prepare for her morning classes.

She hadn't intended to be so late. It had been Konata's idea to feed each other their breakfast, and she hadn't the will — she kept telling herself — to stop the smaller girl.

Kagami shuffled around in her papers, getting everything ready to hand out, when a knock against her doorway made her look up. Misao grinned at her, waggling her eyebrows in a way that was frighteningly similar to Konata's this morning.

"Late again, Hiiragi?" Misao looked like she had a secret that only she knew about, but Kagami really couldn't care very much about it at the moment. She kept getting things in order, and the Principal stepped over to the desk, making a soft chuckling sound like a cat that had found its prey.

"Were you held up by girl-troubles, I wonder?"

It took a moment for the sentence to sink in, but when it did, Kagami froze up, slowly bringing her head up to face the humongous grin on her life-long friend's face.

"H… How did you find out?" she stuttered, still half-stunned.

Misao's grin got a little wider — if that was possible — and she moved to sit on the surface of one of the nearby desks.

"A little purple-haired puppy told me. Ah, I always figured you were like that, though. Ayano-puu too!" Misao grinned, looking at Kagami, curious how she would act. Right now she seemed kinda ghostly, but perhaps that was from being found out so quickly.

"Well…" was the only thing that came out of Kagami's mouth for a little while, while she tried to think about the situation. 'Obviously, Misao knows, and by purple-haired puppy, she probably means Tsukasa. It's nice to know that she and Misao get along so well, but still, I thought I could at least rely on her not to go and tell Misao of all people. Now everyone knows, I bet.'

"Now, now, Hiiragi," Misao said, cutting into her train of thought, "There ya go over-thinking things. You aren't in trouble or nothin', I was just yankin ya around! I did wanna tell you something, though…" and with that remark, she scooted a little closer, a serious look on her face. "You'll bring her to the fair this weekend, if you know what's good for ya." Misao grinned at the look of total and utter bewilderment on Kagami's face and stood up, stretching a little bit.

"And now my work here is done," she chuckled out, walking out of the classroom with a spring in her step, leaving a parting jab with, "Ya better get to sorting, there's only ten minutes left!"

Kagami nearly yelled after her that it was all her fault, but then decided her energy would be put to better use in getting the papers in order.

Had being a teacher always been this stressful?

###

It was lunch break, finally, and Kagami sat contentedly at her desk. She had just finished the first half of the day, meaning she only had two and a half hours left before she could start on the way home. Some of the other teachers had been talking excitedly about the upcoming fair, and what the students were planning to do. It wasn't an unusual thing, these fairs. At least, not when you taught at a school run mostly by Misao. She had a penchant for starting things out of the blue like this.

'I should take Konata to the fair. Tsukasa said the same thing. I was going to, anyway, but now Misao says I should, too.' She mulled over this for a little bit, looking at the ceiling of her classroom as she leaned back in her chair. Thinking about the smaller girl, or something relating to her, had become something that Kagami tended to do, a lot. She'd think about her during class, on the train, on the walk home… Really, the only time she didn't think about Konata was when she was actually with the girl.

It was strange, how this wonderful blue ball of energy had just suddenly appeared in her life, and in such a weird way. Honestly, the fact that Kagami actually believed it — after a moment of disbelief — when the girl had told her she'd come through the television screen… That had to say something. Konata had seemed so familiar to her that things had just clicked. It was as if they were already meant to be, as if Kagami had been destined to receive that tape.

She smiled, looking out the window for a moment. It was a bright, sunny day outside, and she was almost certain that Konata would be enjoying it. That made her smile even brighter.

Only two and a half more hours.

###

The train ride home had been uneventful, and as Kagami stepped up the stairs to her apartment, she felt the now familiar excitement building inside of her. That she would react so strongly to the mere idea of being closer to Konata had scared her at first, but the blue-haired girl had eased her worries with a smile, a smooch, and a playful, "You get lonely so easy."

Kagami grinned. Maybe she did. Maybe she hadn't realized — before Konata had entered her life — that she was lonely. They say that you don't realize what you have until you lose it. Perhaps that term didn't just apply to losing something dear to you. Perhaps it could also apply to losing something that you never wanted. She hadn't known of her loneliness until she had lost it…

Regardless, she was glad to be entering her apartment, glad that she would see her Konata. So glad that she didn't mind the running tackle she received as she closed the door. She didn't mind the shower of affection, either.

Things had gotten a lot better since she had watched that tape.

###

**Author's Notes:**

Agh! For some reason stupid fanfiction-dot-net removed my double-spaces! I put them back in the form of a '###'... Sorry for any confusion that little mistake caused...


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